Bitcoin OG Whale Dumps Entire $1.3 Billion Stack as Institutions Take Over  

Owen Gunden, a bitcoin whale and one of the early Bitcoin adopters, has fully divested his entire bitcoin portfolio, selling his 11,000 BTC stack, valued at $1.3 billion at peak prices, in several transfers to Kraken, which he concluded Thursday, November 20, 2025.

With the recent United States spot Bitcoin ETFs recording outflows but continued institutional accumulations, the sale decision could be a signal of a potential generational change in the ownership of Bitcoin from individual holders to regulated financial institutions, with increasing volatility in the markets.

As of November 20, 2025, Bitcoin is trading at $91,620, down 10.42% in the last 7 days after reaching below $89,000 earlier this week, its lowest level in seven months. Bitcoin has dropped about 27.26% from its October high near $126,198, ultimately affecting the overall crypto market capitalization, which is down more than $1.2 trillion from its mid-month peak.

Analysts point to fading expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts and a “death cross” technical pattern for Bitcoin showing signs of further price decline.

Death Cross Confirmed, 365-Day Average Breached

Gunden’s final transfer of 2,499 BTC, worth about $228 million at current prices, capped a divestment that began October 21, 2025, as revealed by on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence.

The whale, profiled in a 2013 New York Times piece on in-person Bitcoin deals, built his position through trades on early exchanges like Mt. Gox and Tradehill. Arkham ranks him as the eighth-richest individual in crypto, with a net worth of around $561 million prior to the sales.

According to analysts at Glassnode, such sales are typical late-cycle profit-taking with no indication of panic selling. However, the timing of the sale has troubled retail investors, as CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index, which aggregates on-chain metrics, fell to 20 out of 100 last week, its lowest reading in the current cycle and a level that preceded extended downturns in prior years. All 10 components of the index now sit below their trends, signaling broad weakness.

Bitcoin’s drop below its 365-day moving average of $102,000 has further affected the market outlook; that level held as support during earlier 2025 corrections but marked the 2022 bear market’s start when breached.

On-chain data shows that spot accumulation by mid-sized wallets, 1-1,000 BTC, has increased two times to a range of $5-10 billion per day, which reveals some re-allocations from leveraged positions, while large holders such as Gunden seem to be rotating into diversified assets or tax-efficient vehicles like ETFs.

Institutions Now Own 40% of All Spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Despite the recent price decline and ETF outflow, institutional ownership of United States spot Bitcoin ETFs has surged to an all-time high of 40% of total assets under management (AUM) from 27% in Q2 2024, according to the latest SEC 13F filings from over 1,119 companies managing more than $100 million in assets.

The figure does not capture the whole trend, excluding smaller institutions, and shows Bitcoin’s integration into mainstream portfolios. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) commands 85% of reported institutional positions, including a $443 million stake from Harvard Management Co.

Short-term flows tell a different story. Farside Investors data shows $3 billion in net outflows through November 19, 2025, the worst monthly total on record, including a $523 million single-day exit from IBIT on Tuesday and the second-largest redemption day ever, worth $463 million, on November 14, 2025.

Hedge funds drove much of the selling through profit-taking and basis trade, pushing Q2 ETF AUM down 12% quarter-over-quarter to $33.6 billion.

“Institutional ownership continues rising to new highs despite retail fears and large-scale selling by ETF shareholders,” said Bitcoin analyst Root in a recent note.

Q1 2025 filings revealed advisors reclaimed 50% of holdings from hedge funds, which cut exposure 32%. Corporate treasuries, adopting Strategy’s model, added over 2 million BTC year-to-date; the company alone holds 649,870 BTC as of November 20, 2025.

The split, as whales continue to divest and distribute and corporate institutions consolidate, could widen Bitcoin’s base and stabilize volatility over time.